He dunks frequently in traffic (the level 1 dunk package iirc), so he's got that covered. Apparently, Rice is also a good shot blocker. He blocked 2 dunks while I was testing out Lewis. I'll put focus into using Rice tomorrow, so I'll give a report on how I think he plays.

Sounds good. I had him on my 90s LUT in NBA Live 15, and enjoyed playing with him then. He's usually been on the Auction House for a lot more than that though, so I had to skip him when I was looking for the best deals to put together my squad.

He usually goes for around the 100k+ range. I have seen him drop to 60k or lower in the past when the AH crashed during the All-Star promo. If you're lucky, you might find a Rice card for a bit lower than he usually goes for, especially with that new Bird card that was released.

So...Ewing is still going for 250k on the auction house, meanwhile, 94 Shaq is going for 100k cheaper.

Anybody else feel that the required attributes for getting a perfect release when shooting has been nerfed? I remember that if you had a 72 3pt rating, you were able to get a green release if you were in the corner, but now if you shoot anywhere behind the arc with a 72 rating, you always get the low 3pt rating warning.

This makes very difficult for someone like All-Star Giannis or Isiah Thomas to make threes now.

I haven't noticed as I tend not to take threes with players that have ratings that low because of the drop in skill immediately under 75 or so, but I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Meanwhile, I had some points and coins left over, so I gave the Legends Pack a try: Kevin McHale and Bob Cousy. Short term card from the Challenge was Larry Bird. Also, Shaq's dunk package has definitely been fixed. The Shaq Attaq is baq!

shinron15 wrote:Anybody else feel that the required attributes for getting a perfect release when shooting has been nerfed? I remember that if you had a 72 3pt rating, you were able to get a green release if you were in the corner, but now if you shoot anywhere behind the arc with a 72 rating, you always get the low 3pt rating warning.

This makes very difficult for someone like All-Star Giannis or Isiah Thomas to make threes now.

I've never been successful with a rating under 75. I've gotten lucky occasionally when I accidentally shoot when wide open out of habit but that's why I haven't been sold on giannis or Simmons like you have.

That's why have a problem with the way they rated a lot of players who are good or perfectly capable of hitting 3s. Jokic has a ridiculously low rating and in highlights this dude was hitting like 25 footers with no problems

New Playoffs program this week. You complete an East or West challenge to unlock a pack containing a player from each of the qualifying teams. They are all trial cards, but if you complete their challenge, you unlock a permanent non-auctionable version of their card, which will be used for later playoff challenges. Like the Rookie Ladder cards, they are dynamic stats which change if one of the players has a great performance during the Playoffs.

East players

West players

Speaking of the Rookie Ladder players, this is the last week they will be upgraded. Mitchell ended up with a 96 overall, while Simmons ended up with a 94 overall. Sold Simmons for 120k, and I'm in the process of saving coins for more legends down the road.

Another thing I forgot to point out is that these players seem to count as Playstyle players, as well as team players. For instance, Korver counts as a Cavs player, and a Wing Shooter, and Brogdon counts as a Bucks player, and a Slasher.

Andrew wrote:It's even worse when it comes to Olajuwon's mid-range rating. He should be reliable from that distance, as he was in real life, but it's not worth shooting outside of five feet with him.

Worst example of this is Anthony morrow with a 3 pt rating of 60. Sure he's not the best player in the league so they have to keep his ratings and overall down, but you have to give credit where it's due, and he's a career 40+% shooter. That's what he's known for

Sure, Bill Russell deserves an overall higher than 92, but with those stats, do they expect an imaginary intangibles rating to be cranked up to something like 600 just for him to be an unjustified 95 or 96 overall based on his attributes? I got Russell's trial card from the challenge, and he's a great finisher and shot blocker. But all because he's not a 96 or higher, he acts like a child and chooses to boycott the legend packs altogether.

There was someone I watched on Youtube who played LUT since Live 14, and he admitted that Glen Rice is at least in the top 5 best cards to have. It's sad when people value overall ratings over the players themselves. I'm having a blast playing as guys like Carter, Rice, and even Reggie Lewis, the most underrated card from the newest batch of legends.

Overall Ratings have always been distracting, but they're a necessary evil in franchise modes. Still, people too much stock in them; I've written at least two or three articles on that over the past few years.

They're less important than in franchise modes since you're not trading players for one another, and the fact that the Overall on the cards doesn't match the Overall in-game further decreases their usefulness, but I guess we still need a rough guide to the overall value of a card. I reckon there'd be a fuss if they were removed entirely.

I usually judge a card based on if I like how it plays, and how well they perform. Picked up a Birdsong card for 10k, and he performs quite well despite his 90 overall. He can play defense, shoot the ball, and dunk all over defenders.

I'm curious on the Playoffs program. I heard that the full cards have dynamic stats based on their performance, but I wonder what happens if their team gets eliminated.

Andrew wrote:They're less important than in franchise modes since you're not trading players for one another, and the fact that the Overall on the cards doesn't match the Overall in-game further decreases their usefulness, but I guess we still need a rough guide to the overall value of a card. I reckon there'd be a fuss if they were removed entirely.

I would not mind it if the number on the card was an actual reflection of an average of all of the visible ratings, but they are pointless if the numbers are chosen arbitrarily as they are now

I wound up completing the Covington challenge. Might do capela next. I do appreciate the updated rosters but it did feel weird to play against the heat with no Wade or Whiteside. It's a pretty cool idea to simulate the playoffs by requiring winning 4 games with a 7 game card